Skip navigation

Legalization of Betting: Pros and Cons

Jul. 28, 2020   •   Snehal Asthana

INTRODUCTION

It’s a tough question to answer. The Indian government’s outlook towards gambling and betting remains in a grey area. A few sports revel in complete approval from the authorities while others are completely shunned. Horse racing and rummy are considered games of skill and thus free to bet on, while cricket and poker don’t share the same distinction in the eyes of Indian lawmakers. Patti (flush) banned while Rummy is allowed. Perhaps even more interesting – horse racing (one of the easiest games to fix) is legal to wager on based it is a skill game.[1] Different states have different Betting laws even though there are centralized Acts in place. The Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India which explicitly gives states the right to legislate and make policies related to “gambling and betting”. It is quite clear in the Seventh Schedule Entry 34 List II which says states could legalize gambling should they choose to do so.[2]

Every state government is free to enact as well as legislate gambling laws as per their discretion. Also, the Central Government cannot intervene in any of the state proceedings. Despite gambling being in a grey area in India, there are many legislations in place. Such examples of acts are given below[3]:

  1. The Public Gambling Act, 1867
  2. The Payment and Settlement Act, 2007
  3. Assam Gaming and Betting Act, 1970
  4. Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act, 1887
  5. Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act, 1976 and so on….

LEGALIZATION OF BETTING: PROS AND CONS

PROS:

  1. Curb black money and terror financing

The reasons to look at legalizing and regulating gambling are several. First, gambling is already operating in a spread out and operating in a huge way. Despite devoting several legal measures and covert actions, legal enforcement authorities are not able to curb it. Gambling and betting are mostly done very secretly and which is handled in a delicate manner. It is mostly headed underworld and strong syndicates who use the unaccounted money earned from gambling activities for nefarious activities. These activities could include terror financing. So legalizing the activity will not only help curtail an important source of black money and stop funds flowing to terror agencies.

2. Huge Revenues[4]

Estimates about the size of the gambling market in India vary according to various private and government agencies. According to the KPMG report, the size could be around $ 50- $60 billion, while other, more recent, studies from financial institution peg the value even to higher numbers. Even a normal estimate suggests with just 15 percent GST, the government could earn tens of thousands of crores by legalizing sports betting. If online gambling and casinos are also permitted in a strong restrictive way, the estimated tax revenue very huge to both state and central government. These can be used to fund health and other construction projects of the government.

3. Employment opportunities

Apart from revenue generation, legalizing gambling will surely create huge employment. Globally, wherever gambling is regulated, it has created a massive opportunity for employment generation. In India, it could create direct and indirect jobs for around 25-40 lakh[5].

CONS

  1. Spoils the integrity[6]:

Integrity is a core component in any activity, but in sports and games is crucial to its success. It serves the basis for the enjoyment of participants and spectators. But if gambling and betting are legalized, integrity and honesty will be under great threat. Match-fixing and spot-fixing would drastically increase. Athletes and players will be tempted. Psychologically, players attracted to gambling naturally because of their competitive nature, media success, money, and self-assured sense of entitlement

2. Affects common man

If betting were to be legalized, this lower class of the country will affect. Betting attracts the common man to try their luck and tempts them to play with money. It is very tough to imagine the consequences of a poor person losing his hard-earned money or his life saving on betting.

CONCLUSION

There is overwhelming support backed by the law commission report for the idea to legalize gambling. Some of the important points put forward are the failure to control illegal betting (large scale), government losing a huge revenue-earning opportunity, employment generation. The government has to weigh the pros and cons before indulging in the act of legalizing gambling, which can lead to a complex impact on society.

Kunjan Mehta is a third-year law student at GLS Law College, Ahemdabad.

Disclaimer: The article is an original submission of the Author. Niti Manthan does not hold any liability arising out of this article. Kindly refer to our terms of use or write to us in case of any concerns.


[1] https://lexsportiva.blog/2020/06/04/legalisation-of-sports-betting-in-india-what-is-the-best-bet/

[2] https://www.india.gov.in/my-government/constitution-india

[3] https://www.mondaq.com/india/gaming/617478/a-walk-through-the-gambling-laws-in-india

[4] http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/Report276.pdf

[5] http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/Report276.pdf

[6] http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/Report276.pdf


Liked the article ?
Share this: